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-- write every day if possible,especially when you are most bothered. The rewards you get will motivate you to keep this life management skill a part of the rest of your life.

--- see a physician – get a complete check up and discuss all of your symptoms, (most of us have)

--- talk things over with a friend, family member(s) or therapist.

--- probe your feelings – figure out what’s troubling you and write some strategies that will help you deal with these.

--- take a break – a simple change in your routine can help give you a different perspective - Exercise – the times that we need to take care for ourselves the best are usually the times we take the least care.

--- avoid any extra stress no big changes, don’t take on any added responsibility.

After commencing with your every day journal, you will notice after a week or so how you will feel differently. Make these findings of your self-realizations as an entry in your journal.

REMEMBER: "YOU are your own pilot with your own airplane. YOU "choose" which altitude and which speed YOU wish to fly at in order to avoid any unnecessary turbulence."

If the your flight gets turbulent, then change your altitude (your perspective) and you will have a smoother flight. Its just that simple!

Make The BEST Of Each Day!

Edited: With this combined with a daily meditation. You will reap the rewards in this life as you walk along on your journey.

I have to agree on this topic I have been writing poetry that is how i deal with my everyday emotions and it has helped me in such away that I am stunned as to how together my life is. If I have a situation that i feel is stressing me out I write about it and afterwards I read the poem over and see what I am doing about it and it works for me seeing that I have changed in so many positive ways and love the change I see because it is for the better of my peace of mind.

Thank you very much islander it means so much that people like yourself read it. I think personally that many people can relate to so many of my poetry because I think we all share the same emotions and reactions to certain situations in life like the following poem

Rejection

Be it once or ten times It always feels the same Like the first time someone rejects youAnd I have been rejected many a timeEven by my own familyRejection comes in many forms Even avoidance Avoidance in meeting Yet here today tears in the eye Thinking of how many people Always make me feel rejectedFor years I showed love But never got the same But still went ahead and gaveYet I still feel rejected Dragging out on life and me And still the sense of rejectionHow long will it still carry onI am tired of being alone and on my own But today I feel so aloneIs my life meant to be on my own Because people make me feel that wayBeing rejectedFor once I thought that someone is true to me But in a sense I feel rejected Rejected by means of avoiding meBut rejection still hurts

Created we are just Flesh and BoneFrom the day we are born till the day we all dieWe are just Flesh and Bone

Passing through life we create circumstances But we take it as problems, obstacles of punishment

But we will never take those circumstances and Turn them positive to suit our needs and take it asCircumstances of opportunities

Opportunities is the Bone that creates the bodyCircumstances is the flesh that surrounds the bone whichMakes the individual person,The person we are and will be

The heart we so talk about that make us believe thatThe hart is there for only one purpose to loveBut again the hart is the Bone from where the structure startsAnd the love the Flesh that makes us complete

So is my life the journey that started At birth only the Bone to my beingOr how tall I feel today

The circumstances, the problemsThe problems I created and the circleOf my life is only the Bone,The people is the Flesh that makes Me complete and human

For we all started out being just humanBut today we are all part of a universe of beings that surrounds our destiny and life to which we are the Flesh

The circumstances, obstacles, situationsIs only the Bone, which makes us Stronger

Now if some of you want to get into more creative writing along with journal writing. one of the tips I will add is to sit down to write at the same time each day. If nothing is ready to come out, don't try to force things along. You will soon 'feel' when there is something there. I have used reading a paragraph or two of Virigina Woolf's diaries as a way 'into' that state of mind: creative writing. I would also recommend, if you have had the t.v. on or radio, to turn everything off, shut everything down and find a quiet period before you sit down to see if something wants to hit the page. Your brain needs to shift from the receptive side, the one which processes information, balances your checkbook, etc. to the creative side and it takes a bit of time for that shift to happen. You can also keep Doris Lessing's technique as an early London writer: polishing and cleaning. It allows the shift to happen, too. Best, Win

Logged

Winthrop Smith has published three collections of poetry: Ghetto: From The First Five; The Weigh-In: Collected Poems; Skin Check: New York Poems. The last was published in December 2006. He has a work-in-progress underway titled Starting Positions.

A study done on journaling shows that daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Additionally, the gratitude group experienced less depression and stress, was more likely to help others, exercised more regularly and made more progress toward personal goals.

One of the first things I did when I found out I was positive was to go out and buy a journal, a beautiful tan leather bound number. I don't know why I did it. I'd never kept a journal before and had never thought of doing so, but something drew me to it. My journal has been invaluable to me.It's getting toward my bedtime, and my arms ae so sore from the gym it is hard to type, but tomorrow I'll pull some stuff out of it for you. Stuff I found on my journey. Stuff I think you will really enjoy.

Stephen, before I was diagnosed I had about 50 poems then after diagnosis I have written 182 to date and still counting. I find that having done this I have learned so much about myself, strengths and weaknesses and I get stronger through my writting and helps me deal with so much and understanding my emotions. Looking forward in reading your input.